A professor at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has warned that plant-parasitic nematodes are causing severe yet often overlooked damage to crops nationwide.
Monioluwa Omolara Olaniyi, of NOUN’s Department of Biological Sciences, described the pests as “little known, yet devastating” during the university’s 36th inaugural lecture in Abuja on Thursday.
She said nematodes attack plant roots, weaken crops and reduce yields, with the effects often misdiagnosed as drought or nutrient deficiency. Vegetables, cereals, tubers and legumes are among the crops affected.
Olaniyi, a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Technology, Innovation and Research at NOUN, linked her decades of research to global efforts on food security and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. She identified climate variability, poor farm hygiene and contaminated planting materials as factors worsening the problem. She also highlighted alternatives to chemical pesticides, including biological control methods, and stressed the need for correct diagnosis and farm hygiene.
NOUN Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olufemi Peters, praised Olaniyi’s work as critical to sustainable agriculture and said the university would continue to support research that advances food production and environmental protection.
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